International Open Access Week is an international initiative aimed at increasing exposure to the concept of Open Access. The Open Access movement refers primarily to scholarly articles within academia and includes “open science, open data, open source, and open education — [aiming to free] the research and communication cycle for faster dissemination and discovery of knowledge.” An estimated half of all peer-reviewed research published between 2007 and 2012 is now available in an open-access format. However, this research is not always accessible until a year or two after publication. While there has been huge progress in open-access initiatives, more has to be done to ensure that scholarly knowledge is accessible to everyone.

What is Open Access?

Open access has been defined as “making the information which scholars provide without expectation of payment available online at no cost to readers.” There are two different kinds of open access: green and gold. Green open access refers to archiving scholarly articles after they’ve been submitted to journals. Gold open access refers to publishing scholarly articles in open-access journals. If an article is accepted by a for-profit journal, the author generally gives copyright to the publishing organization. Green open-access doesn’t provide any new avenues for publishing research, but does allow for better visibility of articles and can be easier for authors to obtain. Gold open-access allows for authors to retain rights to their works and ensure there’s continuous access to the articles.

“In an effort to encourage scholars to make their research available in open access, the University has established a support of Open Access Publishing to assist researchers in paying fees charged by publishers to make material available in open access. The Fund also supports authors who must comply with policies established by granting agencies that require open access dissemination of funded research and who have not already received funds for this express purpose.”

Open Journal Hosting:

“The journal hosting service was established to increase access to the journals already being produced by uOttawa researchers and encourage the establishment of new ones. The Library provides server space for the hosting and archiving for the journal while the journal manager and editorial staff are responsible for journal management, administration, and content.”

uO Research:

“The University’s digital repository for research and teaching materials created by the uOttawa community and its affiliated partners. It provides open and permanent access to uOttawa scholarship thereby ensuring its wide dissemination and increased visibility on the web.”

Open access benefits more than just researchers in universities; it impacts anyone looking for accurate and reliable information. From doctors to entrepreneurs to everyday people, open access means that everyone is entitled to the same level of knowledge. The University of Ottawa is committed to making open access a reality. Click here for a breakdown of open access benefits.

This blog post was created in fulfilment of the requirements of the course ISI 5701 at the University of Ottawa